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 NIER: Gestalt/Replicant, developed by cavia inc., published by Square Enix To head off this question before it gets asked exactly 4,138,532 times, I will explain what the difference between these two titles are. Gestalt is the "true" version of the game, featuring an older man attempting to save his daughter from a deadly disease called the Black Scrawl. This version has been released in North America simply as NIER, available for both the XBox 360 and PS3. Replicant, as is inferred by the name, is a copy of the Gestalt version featuring a younger male attempting to save his sister from a disease called the Black Scrawl. This version is available only for the PS3 in Japan. How are they different? In literally no way that is significant. There are incredibly slight dialogue differences between the two games, and each game features a different design for the main character. That is all. Trophies, storyline, quests, items, and EVERYTHING important is the same.  Gameplay So, it's made by cavia, huh? Their games are usually pretty poo poo, right? Good news, friend! It's not terrible! The game is pretty much free-roaming, with a small area to run around in (think Zelda, not so much Oblivion/Fallout in terms of size) populated with towns, dungeons, and open plains. Towns are filled with shops where new weapons can be purchased or jobs can be accepted (but are not required) and two forms of fast-travel: a drifting boar and a boat. The action is not Devil May Cry, but I think it's serviceable. Here are some examples in video form: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlaYiajEqo4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2eI1j9J3v4 Character progression involves killing enemies for experience to level up, killing bosses to receive new spells for your floating book, and acquiring new weapons from three basic types: one-handed swords, spears, and two-handed swords. There are around 30 different weapons. Here is a helpful list if you are looking for what weapons you are missing: http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/nier/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-54581717&pid=960449 It also has fishing! Honestly, I don't care for it, but if you like that kind of thing it's there. Fishing Explanation Added 5/1 Okay, by popular demand the fishing mechanic will be explained here. In the town of Seafront, an old man will hand out all the Fishing training quests. Now, completing each of these quests will increase your fishing skill and allow you to catch larger fish, but you must begin with the mission to catch the Shaman fish. Let's start with controls. -Start at a fishing location and choose your bait. The only available option at first is lure, but later fish will require different ones. -You will cast out your line. The fish bite is indicated by a sizable tug on the line, sometimes preceded by smaller jerks. I have found it easier to judge the line tug if you move the camera to Nier's side so you can see the whole pole. Also, the most frequent bites I get come on the third tug of the line, although not always. -When you get a bite, press X once or simply push down on the left analog stick. The fish's life bar will show up. Hold down on the analog stick, the ENTIRE TIME, moving either down-right, down, or down-left when Nier's body shifts. Hold the stick in the same direction he leans. -The fish is yours when the life bar runs out. If you are having trouble reeling a fish in, it is probably because your fishing skill is too low. Here is a list of the fish needed for the quests, and what lure it needs to be caught. Shaman Fish: Located at the red X at the beach next to the lighthouse, NOT the beach next to the old man. Bait is Lure. Sardines: Same location as the last OR beach next to the old man, use Lugworm. Blowfish: Beach next to old man, Lugworm. Rainbow Trout: Northern Plains, under the bridge to Junk Heap, Lure. Bream: Same location as blowfish, Lugworm. Black Bass: Watery area outside main village, across from the little dock, use Lure. Sandfish: Sandy river area in the desert surrounding Facade, use Lure. Royal Fish: Eastern road river by the goats, use Earthworm. Blue Marlin: Dock the old man is standing on, use Lure. Hymeria: Desert sand river, use sardine. There is also gardening. Whatever.  Story The selling point of this game will be detailed from this point on. It is a JRPG with an actual, honest to God, interesting, captivating story bereft of cliches (for the most part), and a melancholic yet never soul-crushingly depressing plot. Never soul-crushing at first, anyway. The game will receive many comparisons to Drakengard's story, mainly because it was made by the same team, and I think this game shows considerable growth from their previous effort. While Drakengard was interesting because it threw completely unlikable characters into hosed up situations, Nier's story features characters you might actually give a poo poo about in hosed up situations. Cavia has abandoned crude death metal darkness for a more subtle, emotional tone which is aided by the fantastic musical soundtrack (We'll get to that.) The story's simplicity serves to its benefit, in that it rarely seems to get off track or diverted into weird digressions that don't advance the plot unless you want to get involved with the myriad side quests. Finally, its story is served well by featuring a strong concluding sequence that expands and builds on the plot with successive playthroughs. Here are the ending requirements. ENDING STUFF Ending A requires that you simply beat the game. Ending B requires you to complete the game again. (You will not start from the beginning.) Ending C requires all weapons to be collected along with a third game completion, AND for you to select the top option in a concluding scene question. Ending D requires the above, except the BOTTOM option must be selected this time. (DO NOT GET THIS ENDING UNTIL AFTER SEEING C, AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LEFT TO DO WITH THE GAME.) Characters This is another point of strength. The characters are really endearing, and the voice acting is mostly fantastic as well (except for No. 6, IMO). Nier is the main character. Unless you are Japanese or an importer, he is old, a loving father, and has a tendency to poke fun at poo poo that would seem unbelievable if it weren't in a video game. Grimoire Weiss is an incredibly old book with great magical powers. He is also surly, sarcastic, and prone to excellent banter. Liam O'Brien does his voice acting and is brilliant. Kaine is the woman. She is awesome. This is Kaine. EDIT: Nevermind. She's well-written and has an interesting backstory. She will definitely grow on you once you get over the fact that she is dressed in lingerie a horny boyfriend would buy for a girlfriend on Valentine's Day. No.7 is the skeleton guy. He looks creepy and is basically a weapon of mass destruction, but he feels really bad about it. He is responsible for one of the most goddamn touching scenes I have ever seen in a video game, no bullshit. AND FINALLY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoJhn5WZ4kE&feature=related Nier has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard in a video game. Keiichi Okabe is the main man behind the music, and he is famous mostly for doing Tekken music. The vocals are supplied by Emi Evans, who interestingly enough, revealed that the composers asked her to sing songs in the game based on futuristic versions of modern-day languages, so vestiges of various familiar tongues creep into the music. Here's her site: http://www.emievans.net/ One of the cool things about the soundtrack is that it is very well-integrated into the game itself. For example: The main town's theme includes vocals and instrumentals. You can hear the instrumental everywhere around town, but when you get closer to the woman playing music, the vocals kick in, and if you talk to her, naturally, the vocals stop. The segues between different areas with different music are pretty great too, often blending and fading out seamlessly, rather than simply stopping abruptly and starting a new song. Also, this is a boss theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSAH4VDtFjQ So, hey! I like it! You might like it too! LAST UPDATE EVER, GRIMOIRE NIER If you are finished with the game, and find yourself in need of more NIER, the following document was compiled by some cool guys at GameFAQS of all places. http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgvmkf89_228fxgghgg3 It is a translation of the supplemental material included in a companion book released in Japan only, and contains short stories as well as interviews with important members of the game's design team. Don't read this until you are finished with the game, though, as it features SPOILERS. InnercityGriot fucked around with this message at 07:53 on Jan 6, 2011 |
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May 1, 2010 03:49
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 18:33 |
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Be nice, it's my first OP.
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May 1, 2010 03:49
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I wasn't sure about what the rules were about the image stuff so I tried to take everything off the official web site, for the most part. If there's stuff I have to take out I will, or if we need to delete the thread I can. I'm kind of new to this whole internet message boarding thing, so if there's some kind of probating I need to do for breaking rules, I'll serve it, sorry about this. I kind of wanted to give the game a more condensed, easy to read summation of the game without having to wade through pages of speculation and confusion. My bad, guys.
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May 1, 2010 04:11
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quote:I am a nice person so I uploaded the leeched images to Tinypic (Waffleimages isnt working for some reason ) for you, copy paste these links to replace the old ones. Much appreciated, thanks man.
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May 1, 2010 04:30
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quote:One nitpick: the skeleton dude is #7, and his voice actor is super grating on my brain. Fixed, thanks. And yes, I think the voice acting is generally really well done in this game, but the acting for No. 7 is pretty grating. quote:I have a feeling you're trying to fish in the wrong place. You need to go to the beach where there are a dozen of seals near the lighthouse. The game says that you need to go fish by the beach, so I think people just assume the game is talking about the beach directly next to the old man. The fish there are too difficult to catch without better fishing skill, though. Just follow the red x for the first mandatory fishing mission.
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May 1, 2010 15:45
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quote:The OP really needs a section on how to fish, I swear more people get caught on the single plot required fish than anything else in the game. Good idea, fishing stuff added, including a list of fish for the quests, but I'm kind of stuck on one of them, will get it up there when I figure it out.
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May 2, 2010 00:50
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Edit: Nevermind already posted.
InnercityGriot fucked around with this message at 01:45 on May 3, 2010 |
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May 2, 2010 16:56
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quote:The OP is basically exaggerating on an extended scale Yeesh, does it really come off that way? Maybe I should re-write that section. I tried to mention that the gameplay was not terrible, I didn't think that would imply I thought the gameplay was amazing. I even expressed my utter indifference for the gardening and the fishing. I don't think the game mechanics are terrible, they're just adequate. The questing can be grindy if you choose to do it (which I am, dammit, and I'm so close to ending A), and the game is very easy to break by purchasing some of the stronger weapons or even abusing some of the magic.
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May 3, 2010 01:39
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The OP probably is a bit overly glowing, but I think I'm willing to overlook some of the technical problems because I have been so starved for a video game that doesn't have either poo poo plot, boring characters, and/or a stale setting. And the writing is actually good, with humor that doesn't feel utterly alien to a Westerner and dramatic moments that are actually effecting. Updated the fishing list!
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May 3, 2010 01:58
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I think you missed the second part of the lighthouse quest. There's kind of a point of no return with the quests in the first half of the game, where if you don't finish before a certain event in the story, those quests are closed off to you for not just your current game, but all subsequent new game+'s as well.
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May 4, 2010 00:03
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I loved the Junk Heap theme, maybe my favorite tune in the whole game, but grinding for machine parts will really burn you out on the song. I also really loved the song in the Barren temple where http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE5eXOL8LfE happens. Updated the final fish for the fishing quest, too.
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May 4, 2010 03:33
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That's such a hilarious contrast to the Joystiq review. EDIT: I just did the barren temple quest where you save the bandit and the dumb rear end survivor tries to fight you and gets his rear end kicked. Kaine proceeds to threaten him by telling him she's going to cut off his balls and give them to a kid playing marbles in town. Kaine rules. InnercityGriot fucked around with this message at 04:02 on May 4, 2010 |
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May 4, 2010 03:58
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Policenaut posted:
I think it makes sense. I mean, NIER is supposed to take place in a world that USED to be like ours, why would there be all these mystical weapons with special powers unless they came from somewhere else? Also, you weren't kidding about the moonflower quest, that poo poo is ridiculous.
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May 5, 2010 00:37
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http://kotaku.com/5531030/nier-review-not-without-his-daughter Kotaku posted a very positive review of the game. I thought this game would be divisive, but the wild swings in reception from review to review is more than I thought it would be. I think ImpAtom is right in that this is going to be one of those love it or hate it deals, where if the problems with the game bother you, they will REALLY bother you, and if you're the other way around you might REALLY enjoy it.
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May 6, 2010 02:13
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Well, got 100% on all the quests and just wrapped up my run at Ending A. In regards to Ending A, big spoilers, naturally: Emil goes out like a champ. That whole death scene is really affecting, even when you know it's coming, like I did. I also thought that Nier's voice actor really knocked the final battle speech out of the park. The "You want me to understand your sadness?" thing. Really pumps you up before getting bombarded by a thousand magic bullets. I also really appreciated the game's recurring motif of language and words having great power, both for good and ill. The Forest of Myth is the pinnacle of this, so far at least. I'm looking forward to Ending B.
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May 8, 2010 07:09
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When I finished my Ending A run last night, there is a part where you have to input an answer to a question: who do you love the most? but I didn't actually hear the game speak it aloud.
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May 9, 2010 02:46
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Ending B run is depressing, goddamn. On to Ending C, although I might take a break and do something less sad for a while, like reminiscing over my grandmother's battle with cancer or something Although bouncing Emil head in the desert was pretty sweet. I think I'm going to switch to hard for my C ending run. The B ending I felt really overpowered in, and even had to stop hitting things for fear of missing out on some in-battle dialogue.
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May 9, 2010 08:59
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http://scrawlfx.com/2010/05/first-nier-dlc-adds-fifteen-new-stages-young-nier This confirms that the DLC "young Nier" is in fact the Replicant skin. How the hell is this going to work if you have viewed the D ending, though? Do you have to start a brand new game up or something?
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May 11, 2010 01:01
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tricky posted:Other than that, it wasn't super mindblowing. Does it get Drakengard crazy in the other endings? The endings are not Drakengard crazy, they are just incredibly loving depressing.
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May 11, 2010 03:56
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tricky posted:Ah, alright. I think in this case it works a little better. The NIER B ending is nothing crazy by itself, it is the buildup and additional story details that lead up to it during the B ending run that makes it so worthwhile. When you finally reach that ending it is more powerful because the development of the story has added a lot of necessary context to make it more interesting. It really adds to the story, unlike the HOLY poo poo GIANT EVIL BABIES OUT OF NOWHERE type stuff in Drakengard.
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May 11, 2010 04:16
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Dominic White posted:I'm more interested in the actual content it adds - sounds like it's a fairly sizeable chunk of gameplay. Wonder if they've got more packs like this planned? The scrawlfx article makes a point of referring to this as the "first" batch of DLC, so I'm assuming (hoping) that means we get more DLC after this. Would be cool if we get more Drakengard related stuff, like a quest to retrieve the missing memory of the Great Tree in the Forest of Myth or maybe some kind of Kaine spin-off material.
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May 11, 2010 05:14
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I notice the Phoenix Spear is still by far the strongest weapon in the game. I'm kind of interested in this DLC now, if for no other reason than to hear some great remixed music. From what I hear, the new DLC stages are farmable for some rare materials as well, no?
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May 12, 2010 05:12
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Policenaut posted:At Level 56, this DLC managed to nearly kill me on multiple occasions. Cool, I felt like my second run through the game was very easy. It'll be nice for the game to have some challenge again.
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May 12, 2010 05:55
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I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Kaine as hermaphrodite thing is like the Harry Potter thing with that one wizard guy, (I don't read Harry Potter, sorry), where the author makes explicit outside of the text what is only implied in the text. Although, the fact that I absolutely cannot find any confirmation from the game's creators on this topic might mean that I am talking nonsense.
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May 16, 2010 19:43
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If you care about 100% quest completion, yes, if not, don't worry about it.
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May 19, 2010 14:52
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Policenaut posted:Prove me wrong if necessary but it just kinda seems like A and B were originally planned, but then Cavia remembered they have to hate us and threw together two supplementary endings at the last minute. I agree with this. I think the A and B endings are clearly the "canon" endings, while C and D was just cavia fulfilling its douche quota, although in kind of a half-hearted way. The D ending makes literally no sense in any kind of thematic or contextualized way. I do think there's something to be said for it in kind of a meta way, where the game is basically saying Why would you play this entire story and choose the one option that makes no sense in the story you loving retard, we're going to delete your saves and make you do this poo poo from the beginning all over again, maybe you'll get the message next time dumbass Also, as regards the Popola and Devola thing and why they turn on you after helping you is due to the fact that they NEED the sealed verses that you unlock in Weiss before they can do whatever it is they are supposed to do. Not sure if the game actually makes that explicit or not, but I've heard that said on other forums.
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May 21, 2010 23:56
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pairofdimes posted:As far as questions about the storyline go, it looks like there is a guide book to the world of Nier coming out in Japan on May 28th: Anybody find anything on this yet? Is this supposed to be something like Xenogears Perfect Works, or what? I've never been tempted to buy something like this before, but... http://cgi.ebay.com/NIER-COMPLETE-GUIDE-GAME-AND-ART-BOOK-PS3-XBOX-360-NEW-/380237716396#ht_3451wt_1137 Looks like somebody uploaded the Nier DLC remix music to Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7xs_jXVM0A And finally, apparently Famitsu has an interview with one of the developers in their latest magazine, but I can't find anything on what got talked about. I'm kind of interested in what the perception of the game is internally, whether they see it as a success or not, and whether we can expect further games in this series. Based on what they did with Drakengard, and cavia's general tendency toward dickishness, I can imagine them utterly changing the formula if there was a second game, so maybe we are better off with this being a stand alone title. EDIT: Here is the interview. I'm trying to read it in Chrome Engrish. http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1235592_1124.html InnercityGriot fucked around with this message at 09:11 on May 31, 2010 |
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May 31, 2010 09:04
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http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/interview/20100531_370231.html Another interview with the main guys. Kind of sad/funny reading this through the Google Chrome translation thing. When the interviewer asks about the overseas reception of the game and Saito says they think of it as a "wet dog ugly", I thought to myself that he's actually paying attention to the critical reception of he game, and unfortunately, he thinks that aside from Japan's good reviews, it mostly been given poor scores elsewhere. They also talk about the American reviewing system, but I can't quite figure out what they're saying about it.
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May 31, 2010 17:44
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/960449-nier/55007816 Gamefaqs guy has the guidebook, and there's some scans from the book coming in. No fully translated stuff yet, but some people that can read the Japanese have explained some of the stories that have popped up in the guidebook. It explains the creation of the two Grimoires, among other things.
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Jun 1, 2010 04:14
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Seriously, I'm sure it reads better in context, but what the gently caress man. That is straight out of Berserk kind of stuff.
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Jun 1, 2010 04:28
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It's one of the few games I've played recently that actually feels like it has a unique imaginative vision rather than simply being an assemblage of worn-out ideas. The plot itself is rather simple, which I think works in its favor, but it's really the characters and some of the ideas that make it work. It is also genuinely touching/emotional in a way that only Shadow of the Colossus was, at least for me. I think in terms of the entire package, it's the best RPG story I've seen in a few years, and I've played Fallout 3, Dragon Age:Origins, Resonance of Fate, and Yakuza 3 recently. On the topic of the earlier Famitsu review I referenced, the Gamefaqs people have translated some stuff from it. Pretty interesting stuff, actually. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/960449-nier/55013674 Apparently, Emil is gay?
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Jun 1, 2010 08:29
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Policenaut posted:Okay, so Nier's a sexually abused former prostitute Actually, only Nier Replicant is. Old guy Nier just killed a bunch of dudes. It's kind of weird that they basically are saying that both Gestalt AND Replicant are 'canon' according to the story. Does that mean that every hundred or so years, another Kaine is born, hosed with, and given a horrible life, only to join up with the latest version of Nier and help him on his never ending quest? I kind of wish I could read Japanese.
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Jun 1, 2010 17:30
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I would totally play Final Fantasy XIII if that's what it was like. I think the bipolarity of the critical reaction to this game is probably warranted, but I don't think I can understand people not liking the text sections of the game. Even Yahtzee complained about it in his review. It's well-written and fits in with the themes of the game. If the game faced us down with reams of poor exposition with voice acting in some terrible cutscene would it be preferable? Are Americans really this hateful of actually reading, like going to a foreign language film and listening to complaining because people have to read subtitles?
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Jun 1, 2010 20:08
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quote:Neither myself nor Yahtzee are American Yeah, I know that, but the interview with the devs earlier, they talked about how a lot of American press sites did not like the reading sections. I wasn't really responding to you necessarily, just the general feeling about the reading secions, I probably should have been more clear.
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Jun 2, 2010 23:51
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The Scenario timeline from the guidebook is being translated. Check it out here if you're interested. It runs through the entire history of the Nier world and why it is the way it is. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/960449-nier/55032830
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Jun 4, 2010 03:37
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I never played Drakengard, but is the Fool's Accord story referring to the events of the game?
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Jun 8, 2010 10:15
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I thought the megamix soundtrack in the World of Recycled Vessel was good, but I can't imagine when it would be appropriate in the game to toss out a random techno song and have it fit in the context of anything, really. BroNier was probably not added due to the potential awkwardness of having some slight dialogue differences or whatever, I don't know about that one. Also, I like your name because it is Legend of Mana related, which was another interesting action RPG with really cool music and a kind of depressing story line.
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Jun 13, 2010 20:03
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Fereydun posted:Second play-through stuff about wolves I don't think that the revelations about the wolves really makes it contrived, it just makes it clear that the entire point of that conflict is really about survival. The wolves are just predatory animals, so of course they attack and kill things to survive. It doesn't make it any less sad when they get killed, I think.
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Jun 26, 2010 20:06
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I liked this part of the interview: quote:Both the software and the soundtrack were immensely popular But, yeah, I'm glad this got translated, it was a really interesting read. I like that the director hid in a locker after the backlash about the Drakengard endings hit.
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Jul 4, 2010 22:06
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 18:33 |
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gently caress This is pretty goddamn terrible. Didn't Nier turn out to be a decent success considering the budget, though?
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Jul 12, 2010 22:01
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